The present specification is related to an automated system for controlling the parameters involved in the preparation of an immersion bath such as, swimming pools, bathtubs and the like and, more specifically, to an intelligent preprogrammed and selective control system for actuating all the mechanisms involved in the preparation of an immersion bath, such as water level, temperature, addition of odoriferous essences and/or bath salts and the time the mass of the contained water is maintained, temperature, as well as the lighting thereof.
As is thoroughly known, presently the water mass and the temperature of the latter in immersion type bathtubs, jacuzzi whirlpools, SPA type bathtubs, Japanese whirlpools, among others, are manually controlled by turning handles that actuate check valves that allow for the opening and/or closing of the public water flow towards the bathtub, the operation of the water recirculating pump in jacuzzi whirlpool being actuated by a on-off button disposed in an easy-to-access place inside the area of the bathtub box; further, in the case of swimming pools, feeding and water recirculating pumps are provided for cleaning and filtering the mass of water retained in the swimming pool, said pumps being actuated by on-off buttons disposed in an easy-to-access place out of the swimming pool deck area.
Both in immersion bathtubs and jacuzzi whirlpools, the hot and cold water flows that get into the bathtub are actuated by the relevant handles that allow the selective and metered passage of the amount of cold and hot water necessary to dose, according to the user""s will, the mass of water inside the bathtub. The hot water is previously heated by electric, solar and/or gas heaters, among others, where the heating power is directly related with the water outflow therethrough.
In spite of being widely used, both immersion bathtubs and jacuzzi whirlpools suffer drawbacks among which we can mention: the non-memorization of the selective graduation of the temperature of the water to be used in the bath; the non-maintenance of the mass of water contained in the bathtub, in accordance with the physical size, evaporation and/or number of people and the taste of a certain user, among others.
Specifically, in the case of jacuzzi whirlpools, one of the drawbacks is the fact that it is operated only when the user is in the bathroom, thus needing to wait before it is full of water or getting into same before it is filled up with water.
Another drawback of these jacuzzi whirlpools conventionally known is the fact that the filling level of the bathtub is manually controlled by the user himself/herself, who must get into the bathtub in advance so that his/her own body mass is compounded with the mass of water poured into the bathtub, thus defining the water level of the occupied bathtub. This prevents the bathtub to be used by more than one person at the same time.
Another drawback of these jacuzzi whirlpools conventionally known is the fact of that the bath temperature is generally determined by the mixture of hot and cold water flows that are poured into the bathtub, said mixing being manually carried when the user turns mixing handles, the temperature gradient being defined by the touch sensitivity of the user who must touch the bath water to determine the desired temperature every time he/she wishes to have a bath. This can bring about burnings.
Another drawback of these jacuzzi whirlpools conventionally known is the fact that the mixing of the odoriferous essence and bath salts that compose the immersion solution must also be manually added randomly doses by the user himself/herself, thus compelling him/her to define or identify an ideal amount of odoriferous essence and/or bath salt that satisfies its pleasure or preference.
Another drawback of these jacuzzi whirlpools conventionally known is the fact that all the procedures for regulating the temperature and the water level and adding odoriferous essences and/or bath salts should be carried out manually and empirically for each bath and each bathtub user, that is, for each user the regulation is personal and cannot measured in advance, thus compelling each user to regulate in some way the parameters of his/her bath, even if the latter had already been initially prepared by his/her home servant or housekeeper.
Another drawback of these jacuzzi whirlpools conventionally known is the fact that as the bath goes on and the immersion water gets cooler, if the user wants to remain immersed, he/she needs to add hot water and release an equivalent amount of mixed water in such a way that the bath water level does not exceed the value initially defined. This task happens to be fully manual, thus making it difficult to maintain the temperature and saturation level of the water/essence/salts mixture at the value initially defined.
It is therefore one of the objects of the present invention to provide an automated system for controlling the parameters involved in the preparation of an immersion bath that allows the memorization of the selective graduation of the temperature of the water to be used in the bath; as well as the memorization of the water mass level to be kept inside the bathtub in accordance with the physical size and taste of a certain user, among others.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an automated system for controlling the parameters involved in the preparation of an immersion bath, more specifically in jacuzzi whirlpools and bathtubs in general, that can be remotely actuated, the user not needing to be present in the bathroom, thus assuring that the user will only get into the bathtub when the bath is effectively ready.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an automated system for controlling the parameters involved in the preparation of an immersion bath that allows for the previous definition of the bathtub filling level according to the user, the latter not needing to get into the bathtub before it is filled up.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an automated system for controlling the parameters involved in the preparation of an immersion bath that allows for the memorization and repetition of a bath temperature value for each user, said mixing being automatically carried out after the user preselects said temperature.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an automated system for controlling the parameters involved in the preparation of an immersion bath that allows for the controlled accurate and predefined mixture of odoriferous essences and/or bath salts that compose the immersion solution.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an automated system for controlling the parameters involved in the preparation of an immersion bath that regulates automatically and permanently the temperature of the water as the bath goes on, thus keeping same constant while the user is immersed, without the need to change the mixture of the immersion water. Thus, water and odoriferous essence can be saved.
At last, the object of the present invention is to provide an automated system for controlling the parameters involved in the preparation of an immersion bath where all the procedures for regulating the temperature regulation and water level and adding the odoriferous essences and/or bath salts are carried out automatically and customized, that is, each user is provided with a regulation previously defined that is started whenever requested.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention are attained with an automated system for controlling the parameters involved in the preparation of an immersion bath that comprises a central processing unit, to which a control panel provided with display and alphanumeric keyboard is peripherically connected; said central processing unit being connected to the input of a power control circuit that selectively actuates the opening and closing of a set of valves of hydraulic systems for the passage of hot water, cold water and odoriferous essence; sinker valve and product valve for the bathtub to be self-cleaned, said central processing unit, besides being actuated by the control panel, being remotely controllable by data receiving and transmitting interfaces (pulse and/or tone telephone signal, and/or electric signal, radio frequency signal, and/or others) by being directly and individually connected to said central processing unit; a voice synthesizing circuit being provided that interconnects the central processing unit with the data receiving and transmitting interfaces through pulse and/or tone telephone signal, said central processing unit being connected to an analog-to-digital converting circuit, which in turn receives the signals from (level, temperature, and others) sensors physically disposed in strategic places on the immersion bathtub; the whole set being connected to a power source.
This automated system for controlling the parameters involved in the preparation of an immersion bath also makes return calls to the telephone assigned by the user informing through the voice when the bath is ready.
Said system provides, by programming in the CPU, a maximum time for the bath, and after this time has elapsed the water of the bathtub will get through the sinker and the bathtub is switched off until a new command is set. This time counter is reset every time the user depresses any command on the control panel.